On January 28, 2025, President Donald Trump signed an executive order terminating all federal funding and support for healthcare services that facilitate gender transition for individuals under 19. This action aligns with previous measures, including a ban on transgender military service and restrictions on diversity, equity, and inclusion programs.
The executive order declares that the United States will not fund, sponsor, promote, assist, or support the transition of a child from one sex to another. It emphasizes strict enforcement of laws prohibiting or limiting such procedures, which it describes as destructive and life-altering.
Supporters of the order, such as the Alliance Defending Freedom, a Christian law firm, have praised it as a return to sanity. Conversely, opponents, including medical professionals and LGBTQ+ advocacy groups, have condemned the move. Marci Bowers, a gynecologist and surgeon specializing in transgender care, stated that Trump would have blood on his hands.
Major medical associations endorse gender-affirming therapies, viewing them as potentially life-saving for transgender youth at risk of suicide. However, religious conservatives and some Republican lawmakers have criticized these treatments. In over half of the U.S. states, laws or policies have been enacted to ban gender-affirming care for minors, though some have been blocked or overturned by the courts.
The executive order is expected to face legal challenges. Chase Strangio, a lawyer for the American Civil Liberties Union, indicated plans to contest the order in court, stating, We will not allow this dangerous, sweeping, and unconstitutional order to stand. Lambda Legal, an LGBTQ civil rights organization, also expressed readiness to fight back, arguing that the order would cause unnecessary pain and suffering for transgender youth and their parents.
The order aims to block Medicare payments for gender-affirming healthcare and restricts Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act, which prohibits insurance companies from denying coverage to transgender patients. It directs the Health and Human Services Secretary to publish a review of existing literature on best practices for transgender healthcare for minors within 90 days and to use all available methods to increase the quality of data for transgender care.
Critics argue that the administration is attempting to enforce a binary view of gender that does not reflect biological diversity. Bowers noted, They’re trying to make gender binary, and that’s simply not how gender is. That’s not biology. Biology has diversity. Genitals have diversity. They just refuse to accept what biology actually teaches us.
Opponents of current medical standards believe that history will judge these practices as erroneous. Jay Richards, a senior research fellow at the Heritage Foundation, stated, Gender ideology has worked its way into our culture and our schools, but its worst manifestation has been in pediatric medicine.
